Within the food and beverage industry, a variety of liquid products and intermediate liquids may be conveyed through a production facility before being packaged and delivered to an end consumer. In the dairy industry, for example, liquid milk is harvested from animals and typically transported by tanker truck to a local dairy plant. Upon arriving at the dairy plant, the milk is unloaded from the tanker truck and sent either to processing or storage. During processing, the milk may be separated into cream and skimmed milk, evaporated, pasteurized, homogenized, or otherwise processed to produce a number of desired dairy products. In some cases, the processed milk is sent to a filling station at the end of the production process where the milk is dispensed into consumer-sized containers suitable for sale in a grocery store or other retail location.
Throughout the production process, raw milk and its derivatives (e.g., cream, skimmed milk) may be transported between different storage reservoirs and processing equipment through piping extending throughout the dairy plant. At the end of a transfer process when most of the liquid being moved from one location to another location is complete, a flushing liquid may be chased through the piping to push any residual product in the piping to the destination location. For example, water may be flushed through the piping to push raw milk through the piping to the destination location, increasing yield by recovering the volume of milk otherwise remaining in the piping at the end of the transfer.
Current practice in dairy plants is typically to flush piping with water for a set period of time and cease flushing when the time is reached. The time is generally intended to be long enough to flush most residual milk product through the piping without sending an excessive amount of water to the destination location. Some amount of water may be tolerated in the final product as long as the water does not excessively dilute the product. Any milk product remaining in the piping after the flush is terminated is usually disposed.
In practice, the target flushing time for a particular length of piping may not maximize product recovery from the piping while preventing over dilution of the product. For example, the appropriate flushing time may vary as the length of the piping changes, the composition of the product being flushed changes, and/or the composition of the flushing liquid changes. Further, even when the target flushing time is appropriate, operator distraction may prevent adherence to the target flushing time.